Category: Finishes

Finished needlework

Finishes, HAED, Uncategorized

My first ever HAED … finished!!

Anne S

The title says it all … I can’t believe it myself, but this year saw my first ever HAED finished – QS Iris by Josephine Wall!  This was also, coincidentally, the first HAED chart I ever bought, so it’s quite cool that it’s also the first one I managed to finish too 🙂

I’ve always detested over-one stitching, but for some reason I really enjoy doing it on HAEDs, and it no longer phases me … yay me!!  I must say I also adore doing the 2-over-1 tent stitch, it’s soooo much faster too, and with pretty decent coverage on the 28ct Lugana 🙂

QS Iris by HAED

“QS Iris” by HAED (artist Josephine Wall) 
Started 1 April 2016 – Finished 14 July 2016
Stitched on 28ct Lugana in 2-over-1 tent stitch
with recommended DMC threads

Oh my goodness I’m still so incredibly proud of this achievement months after my finished!  I actually made a short video of every colour getting stitched for a HAED Facebook Challenge, but I lost it when my hard drive of my PC crashed a couple of weeks ago now.  Sadly that probably means I’ve also lost all my latest HAED purchases too, as the back-up portable drive will also not load a couple of folders either … so much for having a back-up of important files made! 😦

Anyhoo, one day I’ll download the software again to re-make the video and I’ll also add the rest of the photos in the process – it’s so much fun to see the project take shape colour by colour (when I remembered to take the photo anyway).

Finishes, Halloween, Lizzie Kate, Uncategorized

Very Scary Mystery Sampler – finito

Anne S

Back in June I decided I needed to start working on a few of my WIPs and getting them finished, especially as the HAED I was working on was starting to give me headaches during a very stressful period at work.

The first WIP I decided to pick up and work on until it was finished was Lizzie*Kate’s “Very Scary Mystery Sampler” that I’d had kitted up for pretty much as long as the kit was first released.  I didn’t like the recommended linen at all as it was too close to the browns in the threads, and totally different to the cover picture, so I subbed with something from the stash that would ‘do’.  I was a bit worried the purple tones of the fabric would clash with the border threads, but I think it turned out OK in the end. The same as most people have done so far, I didn’t realise the ‘grass’ was all supposed to be done as satin stitch and not just the bottom section … but I couldn’t be bothered unpicking it all and it’s good enough for me 😉

Halloween Mystery Sampler by Lizzie*Kate

“Very Scary Mystery Sampler” by Lizzie*Kate
Started 31 August 2015 – Finished 12 June 2016
Stitched on 32ct hand-dyed Lugana by Countrystitch ~ colour Storm
with recommended (kit) threads and beads

The next project I finished was a huge achievement for me, and deserves a post all of its own … 🙂

Blue Ribbon Designs, Canvaswork, Challenges & SALs, Christmas Ornaments, Cross Stitch, Finishes, Food, Laura J Perin, Prairie Schooler, Samplers Not Forgotten, Uncategorized

Stitching catch-up

Anne S

I didn’t realise it’d been so long since I’d posted!  Obviously just been really busy living life and the day-to-day humdrum that that brings.

I’ve managed to get a couple more very small finishes under my belt, the first one after I finally received a stash order from back in November last year.  As soon as I received my thread order it meant I could finish the following beautiful piece of canvaswork:

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“Blue Birds” freebie by Laura J Perin (on the Rainbow Gallery website)
Stitched on 18ct mono canvas with recommended threads
(I even managed to track down the discontinued Tiara thread!)

This was the rest of my stash order – the first I’ve had in a very long time!  It means a couple more projects are now able to be fully kitted up, which is great considering one of them was in my  Crazy 7 group of projects, and already started!

Since the Crazy 7 challenge kicked off, I’ve actually been doing really well at keeping my stitching going regularly each week.  While I may not have too much to show for it, my excuse is that I’ve started my very first HAED – Daisy Blue by Jo Lynch.  Considering I’d always called my dear friend Nicki a crazy woman for her love of over-one stitching, and hating over-one stitching myself with a passion, it seems I’ve caught the craze myself!  I’m stitching my HAED one-over-one on 28ct Lugana and I just can’t seem to put it down!  I think in a couple of months I should see this one finished … and I’ve already got a couple more in line to be started immediately afterwards 🙂  The crazy thing is that I have Noah’s Ark by Teresa Wentzler as a seriously mistreated UFO because I couldn’t handle the one-over-one stitching … perhaps it may be time to give it some love and get it finished now!

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This weekend, though, I really had to force myself not to pick my HAED back up again, and instead caught up on a monthly SAL I’m going of JCS Christmas ornaments from the 2015 issue.  So far I’ve managed the first three months, with Feb and Mar ornies hot off the Qsnaps this weekend (I managed the blackbird one in its entirety today!).  Here are the three ornies to date so far (they’re being stitched in order of popularity in a group vote, with January being the most popular).

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“Snowmates” by Blue Ribbon Designs (2015 JCS Ornament issue)
Stitched on 40ct Silkweaver hand-dyed linen (can’t find the details just now)
with mostly recommended threads

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“Winter’s Eve” by The Prairie Schooler (2015 JCS Ornament Issue)
Stitched on 32ct Permin linen ~ colour French Blue
with my own choice of Carrie’s Creation threads

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“Merry Christmas” by Samplers Not Forgotten (2015 JCS Ornament issue)
Stitched on 40ct Silkweaver hand-dyed linen (can’t find the details just now)
with my own choice of Belle Soie and Gloriana silk threads

As well as stitching regularly again, I’ve also joined a group of fellow stitchers to do a weekly cooking challenge.  I think my health struggles over last couple of years had really shaken my confidence in many areas of my life, and cooking was one of them.  It’s been really nice getting back into the kitchen on a regular basis and cooking up some healthy (and not-so-healthy) meals.  Even though I may not always like the ingredients chosen each week, I still make sure I give it a try and I’ve been pleasantly surprised with the results so far.

Looks like life is finally getting back on a bit more even keel … hopefully it’ll continue the same way for quite some time to come! 🙂

 

Christmas Ornaments, Crazy 7, Finishes, Stitch-alongs, Works in Progress

Crazy 7 Challenge & First finish of 2016

Anne S

Well so far the year has started really well – I had a last minute invitation to a New Year’s Eve party very close to the Sydney Harbour Bridge with friends up from Melbourne. It gave a great chance to get up close and personal with the awesome fireworks display … Sadly the friends are moving shortly so it’ll be the last time – but it was a really great way to kick off the new year getting to bed finally at 4.30am!



I was feeling decidedly seedy on the morning trip home so opted to walk a couple of extra kilometres instead of catching the bus – it gave me some much needed fresh air and exercise and I enjoyed the beach walk immensely 🙂



Then in between sleeping the day away I managed to kick start my stitching plans and achieved very small starts on all my projects:

First up the Mirabilia SAL:


Then the first 3 days of the Crazy 7 (7 new starts in 7 days):


  
I also started my first Christmas ornament for an ornie SAL on 1 Jan then finished it off today for my first finish of the year.


“Beyond Cross Stitch – Level Three – Blackwork” by The Victoria Sampler

Sadly it’s back to work again tomorrow so my stitching will no doubt slow up again – but I want to get back into the habit of stitching most days/nights even if it’s just for a few minutes. Having some gorgeous new projects to work on will keep the motivation up I think 🙂

2015 WIPocalypse, 2016 WIPocalypse, Finishes, Goals, Hallowe'en Ornie SAL, Uncategorized

2015 Recap & 2016 Stitching Goals

Anne S

Well my stitching finishes in 2015 were pretty paltry in comparison to other years, but I’m still proud that I managed as much as I did considering the exhausting year I’ve had at work etc.  Here they are all together (with the exception of one last finish coming tomorrow!):

“Boo” (from “Boo Hiss Eek”) by Lizzie*Kate Stitched on 32ct Thunderstorm Belfast with a mix of threads (GAST, Carrie’s Threads, DMC)
“Eek” freebie by Lizzie*Kate Stitched on 32ct Thunderstorm Belfast with recommended threads
Black Cat (from “Boo to You”) by The Prairie Schooler Stitched on 30ct Guacamole Weeks Dye Works linen with recommended DMC threads
“Grandma’s Cushions Stitching Accessories” by The Cat’s Whiskers

I have a HUGE list of stitch-a-longs and challenges I want to join in 2016 – I have no real intention of actually FINISHING any of the SAL projects during 2016, but I hope to get a decent rotation happening again where I can give each piece a bit of love and dedication throughout the year.  Here is the planned list:

  • 1 Jan – Mirabilia SAL – my choice is Bluebeard’s Princess, which I’ve had kitted up for a couple of years now, the only problem is I can’t decide on the fabric … I guess I’d better make a decision over the next 24 hours or so!
  • 1 Jan – Ornament SAL (12 months) – my choice to kick this SAL off is Victoria Sampler’s Blackwork #3-4 … other ones throughout the year are ones that I already have the fabric cut up and ready for stitching.
  • 1 Jan – JCS 2015 Ornament Issue SAL (12 months) – The chosen design will be the most voted for design from each double page spread throughout the year.
  • 1 Jan to 7 Jan – Crazy 7 SAL – I haven’t decided 100% on all of my choices yet (or even if I’ll definitely do this challenge).  I have a couple of large projects I definitely want to include, but also wanted to have some smaller ones too, which would give me more of a chance to actually finish one of them during the year!  So far my choices aren’t looking too small though!:
    1 Jan – Lizzie*Kate’s Christmas flip-its
    2 Jan – Rosewood Manor’s Quaker Diamonds
    3 Jan – Shepherd’s Bush’s Here We Go A Haunting
    4 Jan – Mirabilia’s Christmas Elf Fairy
    5 Jan – CCN’s The Tea Room
    6 Jan – Shepherd’s Bush’s Finch Song
    7 Jan – Either Country Threads’ Paris kit, or Mill Hill’s Haunted Hotel
  • 10 Jan – Dimensions SAL – my choice is Weekend a Paris
  • 10 Jan – Teatime Stitchers SAL – we have a choice of 3 freebies charts, so I’ll be stitching on of the pansy freebies for this round
  • 12 Jan – Christmas Stocking SAL – I have a Dimensions kit Enchanted Ornament Christmas Stocking that I’ll be starting, but don’t hold out much hope of having it in use for 2016, maybe 2017 all going well!
  • 13 Jan – HAED SAL – I’m still dithering over which one to stitch – I have a choice of three (originally it was two, but I just recently splurged on a piece that I’m totally in love with … and had to choose the maximum colours, so I think I’m a bit insane with that one!!).  My choices are either QS Iris, Blue Daisy, or His Way Home.
  • 14 Jan – Valentine’s Day SAL – Still deciding on a chart to use, but it’s like to be Bent Creek’s Bliss or the Drawn Thread’s Love fob.
  • 15 Jan – 2016 Hallowe’en Ornie SAL – There’s no actual start date for this one, but I figure the first two weeks of the year are horrendous for new starts, so I’ll start my ornie in the middle of the month!  The theme for January is Winged Creatures (bats, owls, crows, ravens etc), so I’m really looking forward to that one 🙂
  • 7 Feb – Country Cottage Needleworks SAL – No idea which one I’m going to decide on in the end, but it’s likely to be one of the beach/seaside designs.
  • 17 Feb – St Patrick’s Day SAL – A nice small one for me this time round, I think I’ll be stitching Bent Creek’s Leprechaun, or Victoria Sampler’s Ireland from the International Hearts series.
  • 27 Feb – Easter SAL – Another nice small one, I’m going to be stitching Bent Creek’s Happy Easter.
  • 26 Jul – Specialty Stitch SAL – I have so many projects to choose from, and this is so far in the future, I’ll see what I’m in the mood for closer to the time.

And just for my own amusement, here are the planned new starts in visual format (and means I’ll have a truckload of WIPs/UFOs for 2017 LOL):

Mirabilia – Bluebeard’s Princess
Victoria Sampler – Blackwork #3-4
Lizzie*Kate – Christmas flip-its
Rosewood Manor – Quaker Diamonds
Shepherd’s Bush – Here We Go A Haunting
Mirabilia – Christmas Elf Fairy
CCN – The Tea Room
Shepherd’s Bush – Finch Song
Country Threads – Paris
Mill Hill – Haunted Hotel
Lavender & Lace – Celtic Summer
Dimensions – Weekend a Paris
Teatime Stitchers SAL – Pansies
Dimensions – Enchanted Ornament Christmas Stocking
HAED – His Way Home
HAED – QS Iris
HAED – Blue Daisy
Bent Creek – Bliss
The Drawn Thread – Love fob
CCN – Summer Seascape
CCN – A Day at the Beach
CCN – Summer at the Shore
Victoria Sampler – Ireland (International Hearts)
Bent Creek – Leprechaun
Bent Creek – Happy Easter
Christmas, Exchanges, Finishes, Food, Friends & Family, Heart in Hand Needleart, Needlerolls, Uncategorized

November visit home & stitching finishes

Anne S

In November it was my best friend’s birthday – she’d begged me to fly over for the occasion, and after selling my shares and having a wee bit of a windfall I managed to get there for the big day.  It was wonderful hanging out for a few days with my bestie at her home just outside Nelson – we’ve been best friends since we were 10 years old, and even though we rarely stay in touch these days with visits and phone calls, it feels like the years disappear when we do manage to catch up again.  I love her dearly.  Here’s a photo of the two of us with her (and my adopted) Mum, Doreen.  That’s one huge piece of my childhood history in that one photo! 😀

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In November I also FINALLY finished my wedding gift for my dear friend Elie and his bride Caroline … their wedding was in 2012, so it was only three years {{cough}} overdue!! 😉  While I’m not 100% happy with it, Elie adored it when I gave it to him (but unfortunately forgot to snap a photo of it framed).  This was a very personal gift, as Elie’s favourite author is Kahlil Gibran, so I chose some pieces of his work for the top two quotes.  The colour of the roses was to match the wedding invitation, and the bottom quote is directly from their wedding invite as well.  The Arabic wording means “a thousand blessings”, and as they are both Lebanese it was another bit of personalisation (I charted that up myself).  I have to admit, though, that I’m really glad this is one is finished now, and even more so that all the effort was appreciated by the groom 😀  Sorry for the poor photos, for love nor money I couldn’t get a decent shot of it!

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Finally, I joined in a “Winter/Fall” Exchange with a Facebook group.  Following is the item them I sent to my exchange partner.  It’s been on my wishlist to stitch for myself, so I’ll definitely be doing this one again for me some time in the near future while the chart is still out … just need to decide on the fabric to use for my one.

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“Winter Needle Roll” by Heart in Hand Needleart
Stitched on 32ct hand-dyed Belfast linen by Countrystitch (colour TBC)
using mostly recommended threads

A male work colleague flew home to NZ for a flying visit, and ended up in a charity shop of some sort – he came home with a couple of little treats for me as he knows I love to stitch … I was a bit gobsmacked at his kind thought, and think I’ll leave these in the desk drawer to do a spot of lunchtime stitching in the office in the New Year 🙂

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Over the last month or so I’ve also been taking part in a Facebook ingredient cooking challenge – it’s been great fun trying to find recipes for the weekly main ingredient, and it’s been giving me a lot more confidence getting back into cooking again.  That’s something I want to do a lot more of in 2016 – cooking from scratch!  I’ve always enjoyed cooking when I’m in the mood, and oh my goodness food tastes SO much better when it’s cooked from scratch … so 2016 will see my cooking progress continue as I do the weekly challenges, if nothing else!

And the last photo I’ll finish this post with is me dressed up for a bit of fun in the office – I dressed up in my old Christmas tree dress outfit and handed out sweets/lollies at work … including calling into my favourite coffee shop where I have a great laugh with one of the baristas (who’s in the photo – and the photo is his, so you can blame him for the caption on it! LOL).

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Autumn, ByGone Stitches, Canvaswork, Christmas, Finishes, Halloween, Laura J Perin, Lizzie Kate, Northern Pine Designs, Prairie Schooler, Quaker, Ruth Schmuff, Works in Progress

Latest stitching efforts (picture heavy)

Anne S

As I mentioned in my first ‘return from the dead’ post last week, I’ve managed to do a spot of sporadic stitching here and there over recent months – often the sessions were weeks apart, and each spurt of stitching energy was short-lived.  Anyhow, here are the updates and the WIPs and finishes that happened while I’ve been away …

It seems I never showed the final finish of this piece, which I finished back at the end of January:

Autumn Leaves by The Prairie Schooler

“Autumn Leaves” by The Prairie Schooler
Finished 25 January 2015
Stitched on 32ct Lambswool linen by Wichelt
with recommended DMC threads

Here’s one I managed to finish in June – which now means I’ve stitched everything in that particular leaflet.  I was going to on-sell it or use it as a trade chart, but think it may come in handy for any future exchanges that I do, I think some of these squares are really cute:

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“Autumn Leaves” by The Prairie Schooler
Finished around 14 June 2015
Stitched on 32ct Lambswool linen by Wichelt
with recommended DMC threads

At some point I decided a change of pace was in order, and I picked up a canvaswork project to stitch on.  This was my next finished piece, finishing it in early July – and one of the first times in ages I truly enjoyed my stitching experience, even with all the metallic ribbons!  Unfortunately I had run out of the turquoise ribbon, or it would have been finished much sooner!

Navajo by Northern Pine Designs

“Navajo by Northern Pine Designs”
Finished on 5 July 2015
Stitched on 18ct eggshell mono canvas
with recommended threads

Next up are all the current works in progress … I’ve just signed up to a bunch of other stitch-alongs in one of the Facebook groups I belong to, so there will soon be a pile more WIPs added to the pile – I’ve chosen SALs where I already have a project that is high up on my to-do list, so it’s motivating me to start stitching them.  Anyway, in the meantime here are the current WIPs:

“Flight of the Bumblebees” by Ruth Schmuff – this one is a very old UFO that I’ve started making a conscious effort to get finished.  Unfortunately, as per my normal luck, I’ve run out of one of the gold metallic braids, so I’m waiting for a stash parcel to arrive with the replacement (I had a splurge a month ago to finish kitting up some other charts that were missing threads).  I”m pretty pleased with how this one is going, though, and it doesn’t have too much more to go before it’s finished.

Flight of the Bumblebees by Ruth Schmuff

“Blue Birds” by Laura J Perin – While I was on a ‘canvaswork roll’, I decided to drag out a freebie from Laura J Perin I’ve had sitting in my stash for many years.  Sadly, though, I ran out of the navy Pebbly Perle that was used around the border, so once again another design sits unfinished.  A wonderful fellow stitcher, though, came to my rescue quickly and sent me a card of the thread I need.  As soon as I find my card of blue Tiara thread, which has apparently gone into hiding, I’ll be able to finish this one off pretty quickly.  I just LOVE the colours of this one!  If anyone is interested, the chart is still available for download at the Rainbow Gallery site.

Blue Birds by Laura J Perin

Wedding Sampler for Elie – This is a self-designed wedding sampler that I’m stitching for a close male friend.  I struggled the whole way with this one, so I haven’t pulled my finger out and started it, and the wedding was nearly 3 years ago!!  I’m still not 100% with the fabric and thread choice, but I’ve decided in this case I’m my own worst critic, and I should just continue on with it.  I think the groom will love it regardless of how it looks – the contents of the sampler are very personal to him, so hopefully it will be treasured.  I’ve shown a picture of what the whole thing will look like once it’s finished.  The photo isn’t very good at all, the fabric is a buttery creamy colour.

Elie's wedding sampler

Elie's wedding sampler

“Halloween Mystery Sampler” by Lizzie*Kate – This one was a gift from my Mum for Christmas when the designs were first released.  I also purchased the Tin Roof fabric that was recommended for this one, but really didn’t like it at all, so it sat in a box for ages while I found something else.  I’m still not 100% with this choice either, but I certainly like it a lot better than the Tin Roof one!  I started this one as part of a Sampler SAL, and really enjoying stitching it!

Halloween Mystery Sampler by Lizzie*Kate

“Quaker Christmas II – Songs of the Season” by ByGone Stitches – This is another one I’m really struggling with, as I can’t stand the fabric I chose to stitch it on.  It’s on a 35ct Weeks Dye Works fabric, and it’s just dreadful – it feels like I’m stitching on an old rag!  Anyway, the chart itself is at least enjoyable to work on, I just need to forget about the immense size of this one and keep focusing on one motif at a time.  I haven’t worked on it for well over a year, then when Mum came to visit a month or so ago I sat and stitched on it while we were both sick and watching TV all day.  It was a good design to work on when you didn’t have to concentrate too much!  I actually managed to do a lot more than I thought I had … I’m now almost 3 pages down, and only about 12 left to go … haha.

Quaker Christmas II - Songs of the Season by ByGone Stitches

As to what’s coming up next, there are a lot of decisions to be made … lots of SALs and lots of designs to choose from that will fit within each SAL – some decisions are going to be easier than others, that’s for sure!  I’ll do a separate post for my own sake so that I can refer back to it and help myself choose closer to the start times!  But I’ll also be continuing to work on these as well, as all my SALs chosen don’t have set finish dates … that means I can easily slot them into my rotation along with these other projects as well 🙂

2015 Smalls SAL, Finishes, Stitch-alongs, Stitching Smalls, The Cat's Whiskers

2015 Smalls SAL – February

Anne S

2015SmallsSAL

This month I decided to work on one of the pieces from Grandma’s Stitching Treasures by The Cat’s Whiskers.  This is the scissor pocket from the set … or at least it will be once it’s finish-finished 🙂  It was really enjoyable stitching this one … now I’m looking forward to stitching the remaining two pieces – the scissor fob and the needlebook.  I think the scissor fob will be the next one to be stitched.

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2015 Smalls SAL, Cindy Valentine, Finishes, Stitching Smalls

Stitching Small SAL

Anne S

2015SmallsSAL

Well, so far my SALs have been going OK this year … I managed to put the final stitches into scissor keeper late last night – I opted not to re-do all the stitching, and just decided to change the bee’s flight path so that the back-stitching was closer to the right-hand border margin.  Funnily enough, though, the scissor pocket cover model looks the same as mine on the corners, but with one cross less on the top and bottom borders … so I think perhaps there was either an error on the chart, or the instructions changed at some point. Oh well, either way, it’s done now … and just needs to be made up. Next month I’ll probably do the scissor fob to match, then this little set will be done and dusted!  Sorry, but I can’t get a good photo of this one for love nor money – I need to charge up the proper camera, I think, rather than trying to use the iPhone like my lazy self has gotten into the habit of using!

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“Bee Keeper” by Cindy Valentine Designs
stitched on 28ct Quaker linen in Misty Blue
with recommended DMC and Mill Hill beads
Started 11 January 2015 – Finished 24 January 2015